Season 3 Episode 9: Coercive Control in Children's and Mother's Lives: An interview with author and academic Dr. Emma Katz

Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel

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In this episode, David & Ruth discuss with Dr. Emma Katz in her new book, “Coercive Control in Children’s and Mother’s Lives.” Dr. Katz shares the story behind the development of this groundbreaking book, where she shares her learnings from interviews with 15 groups of mothers and their children. In this far ranging conversation, David, Ruth and Dr. Katz discuss:

• How she was inspired to write the book by identifying how the literature was ignoring the experience of children in homes impacted by coercive control
• The “magic” question that unlocked the stories of adult and child survivors
• How children and their mothers are impacted by perpetrators’ coercive control
• How an emphasis on physical violence can blind professionals to key aspects of the experience of children
• The similarities between the experiences of adult and child survivors
• How children’s agency is minimized and adult survivors are blamed through the use of the term “parentification”
• How mental health approaches are deficient in their identification of protective efforts
• How the use of the term “historic abuse” rarely useful
• How adult and child survivors heal from coercive control

To buy Emma Katz's book Coercive Control in Children's and Mothers' Lives (Oxford University Press, 2022) Use the discount code ASFLYQ6 to get 30% off

To buy Amazon Kindle of Emma Katz's book Coercive Control in Children's and Mothers' Lives (Oxford University Press, 2022)

Emma Katz's popular, free to download 2020 article 'When Coercive Control Continues to Harm the Children Post-Separation'

Emma Katz on Twitter

Emma Katz on ResearchGate

Join us in-person or online 18-20 March 2025 for the Safe & Together Institute Coercive Control and Children Conference. The event includes a family law track featuring judicial leadership, survivors and lawyers. Whether in Australia or across the globe, you will gain 12 month access to recordings of every session. Register now!

Now available! Mapping the Perpetrator’s Pattern: A Practitioner’s Tool for Improving Assessment, Intervention, and Outcomes The web-based Perpetrator Pattern Mapping Tool is a virtual practice tool for improving assessment, intervention, and outcomes through a perpetrator pattern-based approach. The tool allows practitioners to apply the Model’s critical concepts and principles to their current case load in real

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